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pdfOMB SUPPORTING STATEMENT
STUDY TO MEASURE CUSTOMER SATISFACTION
COMPLIANCE CENTER EXAMINATION – CY2010
FEBRUARY 15, 2010 - DECEMBER 31, 2010
TIRNO-05-Z-000XX
Introduction
Background/Overview
The purpose of the survey is to gauge customer expectations and perceptions about the
Compliance Center Examination (CC Exam) process. This research is being conducted as
part of the IRS agency-wide initiative to monitor and improve taxpayer satisfaction with the
service provided.
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) engages a balanced measurement system consisting of
business results, customer satisfaction, and employee satisfaction. The Compliance Center
Examination section within the Compliance Operating Unit (OU) of Wage and Investment is
responsible for responding to customer technical and account inquiries, resolving customer
account issues, providing account settlement (payment options), and working related issues.
As an important customer interface for Wage & Investment, CC Exam needs feedback from
customers to continuously improve its operations. This initiative is part of the Service-wide
effort to establish a system of balanced organizational performance measures mandated by
the IRS Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998. This is also a result of Executive Order
12862, which requires all government agencies to survey their customers and incorporate
customer preferences in their process improvement efforts.
The key goals of the survey are to:
•
Track nationwide customer satisfaction at the five Wage and Investment Compliance
Center Examination (CC Exam) sites and
•
Identify operational improvements.
The results should facilitate more effective management of W&I CC Exam by providing:
•
Insight from the customer’s perspective about possible improvements.
•
Useful input for program evaluation and execution at the programmatic and field office
level of service delivery.
Objectives of Data Collection
The objectives of this study are to:
•
Identify what CC Exam staff and managers can do to improve customer service and
•
Track customer satisfaction with CC Exam’s progress over time.
Methodology
Sample Design
The universe sample includes individuals whose income tax returns were examined through
correspondence with the IRS and whose cases were then closed. The closing categories
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include examinations where there were agreements, disagreements, or no changes in the tax
liabilities.
The sample does not include businesses who file corporate and partnership returns. It does,
however, include individual shareholders and partners examined as a result of a corporate
audit, as well as sole proprietors and self-employed farmers.
The CC Exam sample is derived from the Audit Information Management System (AIMS)
database, which the five compliance centers send to the contractor each month. The
contractor selects 9,120 cases per year and target 2,280 completed interviews per year (456
per site).
Data to be Collected
Compliance Center Examination taxpayer customer satisfaction respondent data is collected.
How Data Collected & Used
The contractor administers the survey by mail on a monthly basis. Standard procedures are
used in order to obtain the highest response rate possible for the mail survey. These include:
1) an advance letter about the survey; 2) the initial survey with a cover letter; 3) a postcard
reminder; and, 4) a second letter and survey to non-respondents.
The contractor, on a quarterly basis, summarizes the quantitative ratings and produces a
national report showing customer satisfaction scores on all CC Exam survey items and
overall improvement priorities for the function. Quarterly, the contractor produces 12 month
rolling data by site. This is an extra slide in the quarterly report. On an annual basis, the
contractor prepares five site reports containing individual site scores on each of the survey
items and improvement priorities for the individual sites. The contractor includes any
relevant database variables in the analysis and weights the survey responses as necessary to
reflect accurately the entire customer base.
Reports of survey findings are distributed to the IRS quarterly. Each report is delivered
approximately seven weeks after the survey cut-off date for the quarter.
For the quarterly reports, the contractor uses basic and advanced statistical techniques
including, but not limited to, analysis of variance and the prioritization of improvement
priorities using contractor’s established technique.
Dates of Collection Begin/End
Data collection runs from February 15, 2010 through December 31, 2010.
Who is Conducting the Research/Where
The contractor is responsible for ensuring the sample is pulled and to conduct data analysis.
A separate GPO contractor is responsible for printing and administering the survey via mail,
and then providing the dataset to the contractor.
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Cost of Study
The estimated cost for this survey is $108,399.
Expected Response Rate
The expected response rate is 25%. The expected response rate on this survey is lower than
the OMB 50% target rate since the sample consists of taxpayers with compliance issues.
They either owe money to the IRS or have unfiled tax returns. This group of taxpayers
generally do not seek out the IRS. In addition, there are no incentives offered to encourage
taxpayers to respond to the survey. Mail surveys also traditionally yield lower response rates
than other methodologies such as telephone or in-person interviews. Telephone and in-person
techniques offer the advantage of interviewer contact who can further encourage taxpayers to
respond through refusal conversion techniques. The mail survey methodology employs best
practices in maximizing response rates by sending out enough mailings as justified without
creating extra burden for taxpayers.
With regard to the low response rate, the IRS will assume that all data collected from this
survey is qualitative in nature, and that no critical decisions will be made by this office solely
from the analysis of data from this survey. The results from this survey are simply one piece
of a larger set of information needed to assess the needs related to services provided by the
IRS.
Methods to Maximize Response Rate
The questionnaire length is minimized to reduce respondent burden; thereby, tending to
increase response rates. Respondents are assured anonymity of their responses. Also,
weighting procedures can be applied to adjust aggregated data from those who do respond.
Test Structure and Design
The Compliance Center Examination questionnaire is an established and tested survey
instrument. If changes are made to the questionnaire, they are expected to be minor.
The questionnaire is based on the contractor’s leverage analysis, which asks respondents to
evaluate various aspects of their experience and to provide an overall summary evaluation.
The questionnaire was developed based on inputs from a focus group with customers who
had a recent closed case with Compliance Center Examination.
The survey will include several rating questions evaluating service delivery during the CC
Exam process as well as several demographic items. In addition, ample space will be
provided for suggestions for improvement.
Survey scoring for this contract will be based on the Customer Satisfaction Survey Score
response average to the keystone question – “How would you rate your overall experience
with the way your audit was handled?” Questions will utilize a 5-point rating scale, with 1
being very dissatisfied and 5 being very satisfied. All survey responses generated are kept
“private to the extent of the law”. The contractor ensures that taxpayers responding to the
survey are guaranteed anonymity.
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Efforts to avoid Duplicate Research
This is the only mail based Customer Satisfaction survey currently conducted by W&I
Compliance for Compliance Center Examination customers.
Participants Criteria
The CC Exam survey participants are pulled from the Audit Information Management
System (AIMS) database in a random sample, which the five compliance centers send to the
contractor each month.
Privacy, Disclosure and Security Issues
The IRS will ensure compliance with the Taxpayer Bill of Rights II. All participants will be
treated fairly and appropriately.
The security of the data used in this project and the privacy of participants will be carefully
safeguarded at all times. Security requirements are based on the Computer Security Act of
1987 and Office of Management and Budget Circular A-130, Appendices A7B. Physical
security measures include a locked, secure office. Audiotapes are stored in locked cabinets.
Transcription of audiotapes are stored in locked cabinets or shredded. Data security at the
appropriate levels has been accomplished. Systems are password protected, users profiled for
authorized use, and individual audit trails generated and reviewed periodically. The IRS will
apply and meet fair information and record keeping practices to ensure privacy protection of
all participants. This includes criterion for disclosure—laid out in the Privacy Act of 1974,
the Freedom of Information Act, and Section 6103 of the Internal Revenue Code—all of
which provide for the protection of taxpayer information as well as its release to authorized
recipients. Privacy will be safeguarded; participants will not be identified to IRS personnel.
In addition, no participant names will be mentioned in the reports or data files. Participants
will be advised that comments will be audio taped. Privacy is assured by virtue of agency
policy.
Pursuant to the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA), Title III of the EGovernment Act of 2002, P.L. 107-347, the contractor shall provide minimum security
controls required to protect Federal information and information systems. The term
‘information security’ means protecting information and information systems from
unauthorized access, use, disclosure, disruption, modification, or destruction in order to
provide confidentially, integrity and availability.
The contractor shall provide information security protections commensurate with the risk and
magnitude of the harm resulting from the unauthorized access, use, disclosure, disruption,
modification, or destruction of information collected or maintained by or on behalf of the
agency; or information systems used or operated by an agency or by a contractor of an
agency. This applies to individuals and organizations having contractual arrangements with
the IRS, including employees, contractors, contractors, and outsourcing providers, which use
or operate information technology systems containing IRS data. The contractor shall comply
with Department of Treasury Directive TD P 85-01, Treasury Security Manual TDP 71-10,
and Internal Revenue Manual 10.8.1 Information Technology Security Policy and Guidance.
The contractor shall comply with IRS Internal Revenue Manuals (IRM) and Law
Enforcement Manuals (LEM) when developing or administering IRS information and
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information systems. The contractor shall comply with the Taxpayer Browsing Protection
Act of 1997 - Unauthorized Access (UNAX), the Act amends the Internal Revenue Code
6103 of 1986 to prevent the unauthorized inspection of taxpayer returns or tax return
information. Contractors systems that collect, maintain, operate or use agency information or
an information system on behalf of the agency (a General Support System (GSS), Major or
Minor Application with a FIPS 199 security categorization) must ensure annual reviews, risk
assessments, security plans, control testing, a Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA), contingency
planning, and certification and accreditation, at a minimum meet NIST guidance, if required
by the IRS.
The contractor shall be subject to at the option / discretion of the agency, to periodically test,
(but no less than annually) and evaluate the effectiveness of information security controls and
techniques. The assessment of information security controls may be performed by an agency
independent auditor, security team or Inspector General, and shall include testing of
management, operational, and technical controls of every information system that maintain,
collect, operate or use federal information on behalf of the agency. The agency and
contractor shall document and maintain a remedial action plan, also known as a Plan of
Action and Milestones (POA&M) to address any deficiencies identified during the test and
evaluation. The contractor must cost-effectively reduce information security risks to an
acceptable level within the scope, terms and conditions of the contract. The contractor shall
maintain procedures for detecting, reporting, and responding to security incidents, and
mitigating risks associated with such incidents before substantial damage is done to federal
information or information systems. The contractor shall immediately report all computer
security incidents that involve IRS information systems to the IRS Computer Security
Incident Response Center (CSIRC). Any theft or loss of IT equipment with federal
information / data must be reported within one hour of the incident to CSIRC. Those
incidents involving the loss or theft of sensitive but unclassified (SBU) data (i.e. taxpayer,
PII) shall be reported to CSIRC, first-line manager, and Treasury Inspector General for Tax
Administration (TIGTA). Based on the computer security incident type, CSIRC may further
notify the Treasury Computer Security Incident Response Capability (TCSIRC) in
accordance with TCSIRC procedures.
Burden Hours
The survey interview is designed to minimize burden on the taxpayer. The time that a
respondent takes to complete the phone survey is carefully considered and only the most
important areas are being surveyed. The average time of survey completion is expected to be
7 minutes. The questions are generally one sentence in structure and on an elementary
concept level.
Based on a sample of potential respondents of 9,120 (approx 152 per site, per month) and a
response rate of 25%, we expect 2,280 survey participants per year, leaving 6,840 nonparticipants. The contact time to determine non-participants could take up to two minutes ,
with the resulting burden for non-participants being 6,840 x 2 minute = 13,680/60
minutes=228 burden hours.
For participants, the time to complete the survey is 7 minutes. This reflects the time to read
the pre-read letter (2 minute) as well as the time to complete the survey (5 minutes
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maximum).The time burden for participants being 2,280 x 7 minutes=15,960/60 minutes =
266 burden hours.
Thus the total burden hours for the survey would be (228 + 266) 494 burden hours.
Attachments
Compliance Center Examination survey
L1-Advance letter (pre-note) about the survey
L2-Cover letter with the survey
L3-Postcard reminder
L4-Second letter and survey to non-respondents
W&I CCE OMB, CY2010
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OMB # 1545-1432
IRS WAGE AND INVESTMENT
CUSTOMER SATISFACTION SURVEY
COMPLIANCE CENTER EXAM
The IRS is trying to improve its service to the public. You can help in this important mission by
answering the questions below. This voluntary survey should take less than 5 minutes to complete.
Your responses will be kept completely anonymous to the IRS. If you have any questions about this
survey, you may call the Survey Helpline at 1-866-960-7897.
1
The questions that follow ask your opinion regarding how the IRS handled your most recent audit.
For each question, regardless of whether you agree or disagree with the final outcome, please indicate
your answer by checking the box that best represents your opinion.
Neither
Satisfied
Very
Somewhat
Nor
Somewhat
Dissatisfied Dissatisfied Dissatisfied Satisfied
How would you rate the ...
a. Explanation of why your tax return was being audited? .............
b. Clarity of notices in explaining what records you needed to send in?
c. Ease of understanding the letter you received with the
examination report? ....................................................................
d. Ease of understanding the examination report you received? .....
e. Ease of collecting the information requested by the IRS? ...........
f. Ease of using the automated phone system to get help? ..............
g. The length of time you had to wait to talk to an IRS representative
by phone? ...................................................................................
h. Representative’s willingness to help you with your issue? .........
i. Courtesy and professionalism of IRS employees? ......................
j. IRS employees’ knowledge of your case? ..................................
k. Time you were given to respond to the IRS? ...............................
l. Consideration given to the information you sent to the IRS? ......
m. Consistency of information received from the IRS? ...................
n. IRS keeping you informed of the status of your case? ................
o. Length of the audit process, from start to finish? ........................
p. Amount of time you had to spend on this audit? .........................
q. Explanation of why adjustments were made? .............................
r. Fairness of treatment by the IRS? ..............................................
2
Regardless of whether you agree or disagree with the final
outcome, how would you rate your overall satisfaction with
the way your audit was handled? ................................................
Very
Satisfied
Don’t
Know/Not
Applicable
3
Did you contact the IRS Toll-free Exam number listed on the letter you received?
Yes
No
Don’t recall
4
Approximately how many times did you contact the IRS (by mail or by phone) before your issue was resolved?
Times
Please continue on back
Form 13257 (Rev. 2-2009)
Cat. No. 34051T
Department of the Treasury – Internal Revenue Service
5
Prior to the examination, what was your expectation of the length of time in months for the examination to
be completed? (Write number of months.)
Months
6
Who was the main person who prepared your taxes? (Mark only one.)
You (yourself)
Professional tax preparer
Friend or relative
IRS Taxpayer Assistance Center (TAC) employee
Volunteer at VITA or TCE site
Other
Occasionally, we conduct additional in-depth IRS-related research. Research participants may receive a
small monetary incentive to participate depending on the research. If you are interested in participating in
future research, please provide us with your telephone number and your e-mail address (if available). This
information will not be shared with the IRS and will be used only for the purpose of survey research.
Telephone number: __________________________
E-mail address: _____________________________
If you have been unable to resolve any specific problems with your tax matter through the normal IRS channels,
or now face a significant hardship due to the application of the tax law, we encourage you to contact the Taxpayer
Advocate Service at 1-877-777-4778.
7
Use this space for comments or suggestions for improvement.
Paperwork Reduction Act Notice. The Paperwork Reduction Act requires that the IRS display an OMB control number on all
public information requests. The OMB Control Number for this study is 1545-1432. Also, if you have any comments regarding
the time estimates associated with this study or suggestions on making this process simpler, please write to the: Internal Revenue
Service, Tax Products Coordinating Committee, SE:W:CAR:MP:T:T:SP, 1111 Constitution Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20224.
Thank you for completing the survey.
Please return the questionnaire to P.O. Box 64530, St. Paul, MN 55164-9610 USA.
Form 13257 (Rev. 2-2009)
Cat. No. 34051T
Department of the Treasury – Internal Revenue Service
DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
INTERNAL
REVENUE
ATLANTA,
SERVICE
GA 30308
CCEWIXXXX091199995200911
Dick Prosser
855 Peachtree 8t NE Unit 3106
Atlanta, GA 30308-7435
1•• 11111"'1.11.111
•• 1•• 1.1 ••• 1.1 •• 1•• 11 •• 1.1.1 •• 1•••• 111 •• 1.1
, need your help with an important initiative I am undertaking to improve
our service to America's taxpayers. I want to get feedback from taxpayers
like you who have had a recent correspondence audit conducted by the
Internal Revenue Service.
In a few days, you will receive a questionnaire asking your opinions about
working with the IRS to resolve the issues raised in your audit. Please
direct it to the person who had the most contact with the IRS on this matter. The
questionnaire should take less than 5 minutes to complete. Your answers
will be combined with others to give us an evaluation of customer satisfaction
with IRS service.
To keep all replies anonymous to the IRS, we have asked an independent
research company to administer the survey. Pacific Consulting Group/Scantron
employees will process the questionnaires and report only statistical totals to us.
I am committed to improving IRS service to every taxpayer. Please help
me in this effort by completing and returning the questionnaire as soon as
possible. If you do not receive a questionnaire, please contact the Survey
Helpline at 1-866-960-7897-
Sincerely,
~/~
Brady Bennett
Director, Compliance
Wage and Investment Division
Pacific Consulting Group/Scantron
IRS Customer Survey
P.O. Box 64530
St. Paul, MN 55164-9610 USA
CCEWIXXXX091 09999520091 0
Dick Prosser
855 Peachtree St NE Unit 3106
Atlanta, GA 30308-7435
1 ••
11.11 ••••• 11.11 ••• 1'11.1'111.1'11'1111.1.1.1111"11111
•• 1.1
A few days ago, you received a letter from Brady Bennett, Director, Compliance, Wage and
Investment Division, asking for your help with an important research project.
We are administering a nationwide survey among people who have had contact with the Internal
Revenue Service (IRS). We want to know your opinions about your recent correspondence audit
conducted by the IRS. Your responses are critical to the accuracy of this research.
We are sending questionnaires to a random sample of taxpayers who have had such audits. All
responses will be anonymous to the IRS, and your participation is voluntary. We will group your
responses with others, so that no individual reply can be traced back to anyone person.
The questionnaire is quite brief and should take less than 5 minutes to complete. Please use the
postage-paid reply envelope to return your completed questionnaire. If you have any questions
about this survey, please feel free to call the Survey Helpline at 1-866-960-7897.
The IRS is committed to improving its performance and service to the American public. A first
step in this process is to gather reliable information from those who have had contact with IRS
services and employees. Your honest opinions will help bring about this improvement.
Dr. Peter Webb
Project Director
June 8, 2009
000001
CCEWIXXXX081299999199912
John Doe
3767 Maple Way
Palo Alto, CA 94306
*94306*
Dear John Doe:
| File Type | application/pdf |
| File Title | Microsoft Word - CCE Survey OMB Submission CY2010.doc |
| Author | f1kfb |
| File Modified | 2010-08-25 |
| File Created | 2010-01-22 |